communism

Join writer and host Rick Steves as he experiences the local culture, cuisine and fun in some of Europe’s most interesting places.

Romania
Rick tours Romania’s vibrant capital, Bucharest, with its distinct architecture. Then he heads to Transylvania, where he visits fortified churches, merchant towns like Sighisoara, and castles made famous by an imported German king and the real-life Dracula. Finally, they explore Maramures, where everyday life still feels like an open-air folk museum.

Join writer and host Rick Steves as he experiences the local culture, cuisine and fun in some of Europe’s most interesting places.

Germany’s Dresden and Leipzig
Saxony, part of the former East Germany, remains a secret to most travelers. We’ll visit the two great cities of the region: the capital city of Dresden, with the opulent palaces and art treasures of the Wettin dynasty; and Leipzig, with its Bach heritage, a massive monument to the day Europe beat Napoleon, and museums remembering its communist heritage.

Trekker Zay Harding discovers the checkered and often-dangerous history of the Vietnamese railway. His journey takes him to Hanoi, Hue, the DMZ and Ho Chi Minh City where he meets a general who led the final attack on the Presidential Palace during the Vietnam War.

The life of the actor, governor, and president who saw America as “a shining city on a hill” is recalled by those who knew him best: wife Nancy Reagan and three of his children. Also interviewed are those in his inner political circle as well as his counterparts on the world stage, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who negotiated historic arms agreements with Reagan.

An economic transformation in 1983 secured Reagan’s second term. The episode chronicles his last four years in office-from the loss of his closest advisors and the Iran-Contra scandal to the dawning of the fall of Communism in Europe.

In 1959, Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba. He has been one of the most controversial figures in the world ever since. This is the story of the Cuban dictator’s turbulent career, told in part through media reports, rare images and recordings.